The present invention relates to the use of coconut endosperm fibre as a dietary fibre component in a pet food product, to the use of coconut endosperm fibre in the manufacture of a pet food product, to a pet food product which comprises coconut endosperm fibre, to a process for making such a pet food product and to a method comprising feeding such a pet food product to a pet animal. The present invention also relates to the use of coconut endosperm fibre in reducing and preventing intestinal inflammation and in reducing and preventing pathogenic bacterial infection in the large intestine of a pet animal.
The maintenance and improvement of pet health is a constantly ongoing aim in the art. Pet health can be monitored in a number of ways. Two of these are faeces quality and gastrointestinal (GI) tract health. Good quality faeces in pet animals is of two-fold importance. Firstly, it is a good indicator of a healthy pet. It is known that good faeces quality usually reflects healthy colonic structure and function. Secondly, it is a much favoured practicality for pet-owners. Accordingly, the maintenance of good quality pet faeces and the ability to improve the quality of pet faeces is a constantly ongoing aim in the art. It is also an ongoing aim in the art to improve the GI tract health of pet animals. The ability to maintain and improve GI tract health can be beneficial to pet owners because it has an impact on their pet""s overall health.
One method for maintaining normal gastrointestinal function and ameliorating chronic diarrhoea in animals has included the addition, in pet food products, of a fibre source.
Fibre has wide ranging effects on bowel habit, increasing faecal output, reducing transit times and altering colonic metabolism. Many of the beneficial effects of fibre relate to its extensive breakdown in the large intestine. This anaerobic process, termed fermentation, is the principle metabolic event occurring in the colon. Fermentation is a digestive function of the complex assemblage of microorganisms that inhabit the large intestine, which break-down complex carbohydrates and other substrates that have not been hydrolysed and absorbed in the upper intestine. Both the microbiotia and the host benefit from this association.
Many hundreds of bacterial types, varying widely in physiology and biochemistry, reside within the colon. Characterising the individual activities of this multipotent microflora is an immensely complex undertaking and is unclear even in the human field. However, some understanding of the role of the microflora in the colon can be gained by quantifying the fermentation activity of the bacterial population as a whole.
The major complex carbohydrate fermentation products are short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), gases and energy. The energy generated is used for microbial cell growth which routes much of the colonic nitrogen into bacterial protein and increased microbial mass. SCFAs are rapidly absorbed and can influence gastrointestinal function by providing energy substrates to the colonic mucosa and by promoting water and electrolyte adsorption from the colonic lumen. Gas produced during fermentation is eliminated both through the lungs and as flatus. In a carbohyhdrate-limited environment, bacteria will resort to the breakdown of protein which provides much less energy in the form of branched chain fatty acids and also metabolites that are potentially toxic to the host (ammonia, amines, phenols etc.). It is one object of the present invention to incorporate, into pet food products, a useful dietary fibre.
In the production (or manufacture) of commercial pet food products, a small number of different technologies are used. In all cases, product components are mixed together (often, but not necessarily with cooking/heating) with optional other components added later on, and then transported to the various containers to be filled. The process may include extrusion cooking, for example in the production of a dry product. Alternatively, the process may include emulsion milling in the production of xe2x80x9cchunksxe2x80x9d. A variety of processes will include the pumping of the product from one part of the processing apparatus to another and optionally further into cans. It is always desirable to obtain a combination of ingredients which maximise the processing of the ingredients through to the final product. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dietary fibre which is particularly suitable in the manufacturing process.
The present invention relates to providing, in a pet food product, a useful fibre source. The fibre source is particularly easy to use in the manufacture of a pet food product.
Accordingly, a first aspect of the invention provides the use of coconut endosperm fibre as a dietary fibre component in a pet food product. The first aspect of the invention includes the use of coconut endosperm fibre as a dietary fibre component in the manufacture of a pet food product.
The coconut endosperm fibre may be used as the single dietary fibre component or in combination with one or more other dietary fibre components, such as beet pulp, chicory, citrus pulp, rice bran, carob bean or gum talha.
Fresh coconut endosperm has a typical nutrient distribution of water (35%), oil (44%), protein (6%), sugars (7%), fibre (3%) and ash (1%). However, the form of the coconut endosperm fibre for use according to all aspects of the present invention is not limiting. The coconut endosperm fibre may be fresh or in any other form such as copra defatted copra (also referred to, amongst others, as copra cake, copra presscake or copra meal) coconut flour, defatted coconut flour, full or defatted desiccated coconut, copra, or degraded coconut endosperm which has been heated or enzymatically treated.
Copra is a particularly suitable source of coconut endosperm fibre for use according to the present invention. Copra is dried coconut endosperm (usually sundried). Defatted copra is also particularly suitable. Defatted copra is the typical result of coconut endosperm which has been dried and had the coconut oil mechanically removed. Defatted copra cake is obtained by first obtaining copra, then crushing the copra through a press or expeller to remove most of the oil. The residue remaining is termed copra cake, copra presscake, or copra meal.
Without limiting the present invention, the addition of coconut endosperm fibre into a pet food product is believed to i) maintain good faeces quality or improve the faeces quality of a pet and/or ii) maintain good GI tract health or improve it, either achieved by one or more of the following: the improvement of faeces water binding, the reduction of faecal pH, the increased production of beneficial end products and decreased production of detrimental end products of microbial fermention, the enhancement of populations of beneficial bacteria, the enhancement of water/electrolyte uptake in the gastrointestinal tract, the improvement of colonic structure/health and the provision of good water binding features to equalise faecal texture. The present invention is useful for healthy animals, including sensitive animals as well as animals that suffer from poor faeces quality or poor GI tract health. Accordingly, the first aspect of the invention also relates to the use of coconut endosperm fibre in the manufacture of a pet food product for use in maintaining or improving the faeces quality of a pet animal, or for use in maintaining or improving GI tract health. Poor faeces quality is described in Appendix 1
Evaluation of faeces quality and the identification of maintenance or improvement of faeces quality are techniques well known and used in the art. More than one method can be used (alone or in combination). Methods commonly use a panel of trained observers (may be trained members of the public or professionals). Faecal samples from a pet are collected and may be scored according to a rating system outlined in Appendix 1. The evaluation of good faecal quality is determined according to faecal quality which often reflects a normal gastrointestinal function. This is usually the formation of a stool which is firm and retains its shape. Stools which are hard, pellet-like and dry (and may be produced with straining), or which are produced with a moisture content such that shape is not retained (including diarrhoea), do not represent normal gastrointestinal function. The precise optimum stool consistency may vary somewhat between different types of pet animals and between species of an animal, but can be easily determined on review by a person skilled in the art.
Evaluation of good GI tract health and the identification of improvement of GI tract health are also techniques well known and used in the art. The evaluation of maintained or improved GI health can be determined by comparison of a pet animal fed on the same diet but without the coconut endosperm fibre. Colonic (or intestinal or digestive) health can be defined in terms of stool quality and pH, the presence and numbers of beneficial and potentially harmful bacteria in the lumen of the GI tract and/or faeces and total and specific short chain fatty acids. The study of such features in vivo is difficult, not only due to the inaccessability of the large intestine and the difficulty in collecting its contents, but the additional complication that SCFAs produced in the colon are metabolised at a number of sites in the body from which there is no prospect of obtaining samples without adopting invasive technologies. In vitro fermentation systems that use faeces as an inoculum can be used as simple, rapid (although specifically indefinable) methods which can be used to predict some of the physiological effects of fibre in vivo. In this respect, an understanding of the beneficial role of the microflora in the colon can be gained by quantifying the fermentation activity of the beneficial population as a whole. SCFA production, as measured in an in vitro fermentation system, provides an indicator of bacterial activity (see Example 3).
The present invention has been shown to be particularly useful in the ability to increase the production of butyrate from the fermentation of coconut endosperm fibre and thus increase the availability of butyrate in the gut. Butyrate is one SCFA of particular interest due to the trophic effects it can exert on colonocytes, as well as its beneficial metabolic role. Using the coconut endosperm fibre of the present invention, increased levels of butyrate production (in vitro tests) were observed alongside increased values seen with substrates known to produce high levels of butyrate, such as inulin, in the same test system.
Coconut endosperm fibre is also a useful component of the invention due to its role in preventing or treating pathogenic bacterial infection in an animal""s large intestine. Pathogenic infection in the large intestine may be clinical or sub-clinical. Both types of infection are deleterious to the health of the animal and to the animal""s faeces quality. More details on the role of coconut endosperm fibre are described below in relation to the sixth and seventh aspects of the invention. The details as given for the sixth and seventh aspects of the invention also apply to the first to fifth aspects of the invention.
Furthermore, and in addition to the above described beneficial effects of coconut endosperm fibre, it has also now been shown that coconut endosperm fibre in a pet food product reduces the inflammatory status of an animal""s colon or maintains a low inflammatory status of an animal""s colon. More details on the role of coconut endosperm fibre in reducing the inflammatory status of an animal""s colon are described below in relation to the eighth and ninth aspects of the invention.
In combination with the coconut endosperm fibre source, the remaining components of the pet food product are not essential to the invention and typical standard products can be combined with the required coconut endosperm fibre content. Most preferably, the combined ingredients of the pet food product according to the invention provide all of the recommended vitamins and minerals for the particular pet in question, (a complete and balanced food), for example, as described in National Research Council, 1985, Nutritional Requirements for Dogs, National Academy Press, Washington D.C. (ISBN: 0-309-03496-5); National Research Council, 1986, Nutritional Requirements of Cats, National Academy Press, Washington D.C. (ISBN: 0-309-03682-8) or Association of American Feed Control Officials, Official Publication 1996.
The coconut endosperm fibre sources of the present invention are, for a further reason, also particularly useful and effective as a component of a pet food product. This is because the fibre source, in most cases, will contain useful levels of other nutritional factors, such as fat and protein. The presence of such other nutritional factors is due to their presence (and the proportions of their presence) in the originating source of the fibres (the coconut endosperm). It is known that coconut oil is high in medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) and that such MCFAs are more readily absorbed in the gut of animals. Accordingly, the coconut oil present in the source of the coconut endosperm fibres (even in defatted copra cake, which contains in the region of 5-10% fat on a dry matter basis) provides a key nutritional factor for the animal. Since such oil is a particularly good source of readily absorbed fatty acids, the presence of the oil in the fibre source is especially useful in certain groups of compromised pet animals.
The level of coconut endosperm fibre incorporated into a pet food product as a dietary fibre component is not limiting. Preferably, the fibre component of coconut endosperm is present in the pet food product at a level of from approximately 0.15 to 8% on a dry matter basis, preferably 0.15 to 5% on a dry matter basis as measured by the Englyst method (as defined in Englyst H. N., and Cumming J. H. (1984), Simplified method for the measurement of total non-starch polysaccharides by gas-liquid chromatography of constituent sugars as alditol acetates. Analyst. 109, 937-942, and incorporated herein by reference). The levels, as calculated by this method, may go from. 0.15% up to 5%, 6%, 7% or 8%. The lower limit may be from 1.5%, 2% or 3%. A description of the Englyst method is described in Appendix 2. In principle, starch is removed enzymatically after solubilisation and NSP is measured as the sum of the constituent sugars released by acid hydrolysis. The starch component of the fibre source is gelatinised by boiling in hot water and is then removed with alpha-amylase and pullulanase. Starch and modified, or resistant starch are dispersed in DMSO. Three samples are then subjected to complementary procedures measuring (i) total NSP (ii) water-soluble NSP and (iii) cellulose. Components are hydrolysed in each case with sulphuric acid. The constituent sugars are converted to alditols and are measured as their alditol acetates using gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). Values for total dietary fibre as well as insoluble and soluble fractions can be obtained. Cellulose can be measured separately and the non-cellulosic polysaccharides are characterised by measurement of the individual monosaccharides.
The incorporation of the level of coconut endosperm fibre, (which may differ according to the form of the coconut endosperm, for example copra or desiccated coconut) can easily be determined by identifying the amount of dietary fibre in the particular form of the coconut endosperm fibre. For example, according to the Englyst method (Supra) defatted copra contains approximately 33.5% total dietary fibre. Accordingly, the preferred amount of defatted copra in a pet food product in order to provide a preferred fibre level of from approximately 0.15 to 5% on a dry matter basis according to the first aspect of the invention is at a level from approximately 0.5 to 15% on a dry matter basis of the pet food product.
These ranges apply to the first aspect of the invention for a variety of pet animals. The invention is particularly applicable to mammalian pet animals, especially dogs, cats and horses.
The pet food product according to the present invention is preferably a commercial pet food product. Such a product is preferably sold as a product for feeding to a pet animal, in particular a pet cat or a pet dog.
The pet food product is preferably packaged. In this way, the consumer is able to identify, from the packaging, the ingredients in the food product and confirm that it is suitable for the particular pet in question. The packaging may be metal (usually in the form of a tin or flexifoil), plastic, paper or card. The pet food may be a dry, semi-moist or a moist product. Wet food includes food which is sold in tins and has a moisture content of 70 to 90%. Dry food includes food having a similar composition, but with 5 to 15% moisture and presented as small biscuit-like kibbles. The amount of moisture in any product may influence the type of packaging which can be used or is required.
The pet food product according to the present invention encompasses any product which a pet consumes in its diet. Thus, the invention covers standard food products as well as pet food snacks (for example, snack bars, cereal bars, snacks, biscuits and sweet products). The food product is preferably a cooked product. It may be in the form of a gelatinized starch matrix. It may be in the form of chunks in gravy, jelly, loaf or water. It may incorporate meat or animal derived material (such as beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork, fish, blood plasma, marrow bone etc or one or more thereof). The product alternatively may be meat free (preferably including a meat substitute such as soya, maize gluten or a soya product) in order to provide a protein source. The product may contain additional protein sources such as soya protein concentrate, milk proteins, gluten etc. The product may also contain a starch source such as one or more grains (e.g. wheat, corn, rice, oats, barley etc), or may be starch free. A typical dry dog or cat food contains about 20-30% crude protein, about 10-20% fat, the remainder being carbohydrate, including dietary fibre and ash. A typical wet or moist product contains (on a dry matter basis) about 40% fat, 50% protein and the remainder being fibre and ash. The present invention is particularly relevant for a pet food product as herein described which is sold as a pet food, in particular, a pet food for a dog or a cat. Cats and dogs according to the present invention are preferably Felis domesticus or Canis domesticus. 
A second aspect of the invention provides the use of coconut endosperm fibre in the manufacture of a pet food product. The second aspect of the present invention does not include such a use to manufacture a pet food product which includes a gel comprising coconut endosperm and carrageenan. Such a pet food product, which includes a gel comprising coconut endosperm and carrageenan has previously been described in WO96/39046. The disclosure in WO96/39046 is limited to a gelling system comprising carrageenan and coconut endosperm. The use of the endosperm in WO96/39046 is only as a component of a gelling system.
The use of coconut endosperm fibre in the manufacture of a pet food product (in accordance with the second aspect of the invention) has the advantages described above according to the first aspect of the invention. In addition, it has been determined, by the present inventors, that coconut endosperm fibre sources are particularly suitable dietary fibres for a pet food manufacturing process. The use of coconut endosperm as a dietary fibre is extremely satisfactory. The coconut endosperm fibre advantageously and surprisingly generates less emulsion viscosity when added to the remainder of the product ingredients compared to the use of other fibre sources. The advantages of such a fibre are especially noted in the process of pumping and forming the product. It is particularly useful in the process of xe2x80x9cemulsion millingxe2x80x9d in the production of xe2x80x9cchunksxe2x80x9d. Further the use of a coconut endosperm fibre source does not lead to a grey colour, following processing, often associated with some other fibre sources. Instead, an aesthetically acceptable colour is obtained.
Preferred features of the first aspect of the invention, also apply to the second.
A third aspect of the invention provides a pet food product which comprises coconut endosperm fibre. The third aspect of the present invention does not include a pet food product which includes a gel comprising coconut endosperm and carrageenan as in WO96/39046. The pet food product according to the third aspect of the invention has the advantages as described above for the first and second aspects of the invention. These include; the promotion of good faeces quality and GI health, in particular the levels of the SCFA butyrate following fermentation, and surprisingly good processing qualities. The pet food product is particularly suitable for feeding to a pet animal.
All preferred features of the first and second aspect also apply to the third. These include levels and sources of coconut endosperm fibre, types of food products, manufacturing and other components of the food product.
A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a process for preparing a pet food according to the third aspect of the invention comprising mixing the ingredients with optional heating/cooking. The pet food product may be formed before or after the mixing and/or the heating/cooking.
As described above, the incorporation of coconut endosperm fibres provides a number of advantages over the incorporation of other fibres in the process for preparing a pet food product and in the resulting pet food product.
The process comprises mixing a source of coconut endosperm fibre with one or more ingredients of a pet food product. The product can in all other ways be produced by processes known in the art. The coconut endosperm fibre may be added prior to or following heating or cooking of one or more of the other ingredients. The process may also include the step of extracting the coconut endosperm fibre from coconut material.
The food product can be made according to any method known in the art, such as in Waltham Book of Dog and Cat Nutrition, Ed. ATB Edney, Chapter by A. Rainbird, entitled xe2x80x9cA Balanced Dietxe2x80x9d in pages 57 to 74 Pergamon Press Oxford.
All preferred features of aspects one to three, also apply to the fourth. These include levels and sources of coconut endosperm fibre, types of food products, manufacturing and other components of the food product.
A fifth aspect of the invention provides a method comprising feeding a pet animal a pet food product according to the third aspect of the invention. The fifth aspect of the invention includes a method for maintaining or improving gastrointestinal tract health in a pet animal, the method comprising feeding the animal a pet food product according to the third aspect of the invention. Feeding the pet animal with the pet food product according to the third aspect of the invention maintains or improves the GI health of the animal by the presence of the coconut endosperm fibre. The animal is fed the pet food product in a sufficient quantity and for a sufficient time period in order to maintain or improve the GI health. A particular GI health improvement is due to the SCFA production, in particular butyrate production.
The fifth aspect of the invention includes a method for maintaining or improving faeces quality in a pet animal, the method comprising feeding the animal a pet food product according to the third aspect of the invention.
Feeding the pet animal with the pet food product according to the third aspect of the invention maintains or improves faeces quality by the presence of the coconut endosperm fibres. The animal is fed the pet food product in a sufficient quantity and for a sufficient time period in order to maintain or improve faeces quality.
The quantity and time period for feeding according to the fifth aspect of the invention will depend on a number of factors including type of animal, breed, age and general state of health, which the pet feeder can easily use to determine quantity of food and time period for feeding.
The method of the fifth aspect may be, but is not restricted to, veterinarian treatment. The feeding may be non-therapeutic. The term xe2x80x9cfeedingxe2x80x9d also including the meaning of xe2x80x9cadministrationxe2x80x9d to an animal. The methods may be prophylactic or therapeutic. The preferred features of the first to fourth aspects of the invention also apply to the fifth aspect. These include levels and sources of coconut endosperm fibre, types of food products, manufacturing and other components of the food product.
A sixth aspect of the invention provides for the use of coconut endosperm fibre in the manufacture of a pet food product for the prevention or treatment of pathogenic bacterial infection in the large intestine of a pet animal.
Infection of the large intestine, in a pet animal, by pathogenic bacteria is concerning. Particular pathogenic bacteria include Campylobacter (especially Campylobacter jejuni), Salmonella and Escherichia coli. Campylobacter jejuni, the species responsible for the majority of human infections, is also the main species of concern for cats and dogs. The species can act as a pathogen in young dogs and cats and is likely to be opportunistic in older animals. Clinical illness in dogs manifests itself as diarrhoea, ranging from mild to mucus laden bloody diarrhoea, tenesmus, vomiting, anorexia and depression. A major concern regarding Campylobacter infection in companion animals is the zoonotic risk that carriage and excretion of the organism represents. It has been estimated that 5% of all human C. jejuni induced diarrhoea results from exposure to infected dogs or cats. A number of more recent studies quote dog ownership as a significant risk factor for becoming ill with Campylobacter. A study conducted in Christchurch, New Zealand found that household contact with dogs carried a risk of 1.25 to 2 times for contracting Campylobacter. In addition, there are concerns that attempts to reduce and eliminate Campylobacter infection by continued use of antibiotic strains may lead to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of this organism.
The present invention of a pet food product comprising coconut endosperm fibre has been shown to be effective in preventing and treating pathogenic bacterial infection in the large intestine of a pet animal. The animal is, in particular, a cat or a dog (in both cases, preferably Felis domesticus or Canis domesticus). Pathogenic bacteria include, amongst others, Campylobacter, Salmonella, pathogenic Clostridium and E. coli, such as enteropathogenic E. coli and verotoxigenic E. coli. 
A seventh aspect of the invention provides a method for preventing or treating pathogenic bacterial infection in the large intestine of a pet animal, the method comprising feeding said pet animal a pet food product comprising coconut endosperm fibre.
An eighth aspect of the invention provides for the use of coconut endosperm fibre in the manufacture of a pet food product for the prevention or treatment of intestinal inflammation in a pet animal.
In dogs, an inflammatory response in the colon is associated with the production of various mediators, including the eicosanoid prostaglandin E2 (PGE2).
The present invention shows that pet animals which are fed a pet food product comprising coconut endosperm fibre produce significantly less PGE2 than the same diet without a fibre source.
A ninth aspect of the invention provides a method for preventing or reducing intestinal inflammation in a pet animal, the method comprising feeding said pet animal a pet food product containing coconut endosperm fibre.
In accordance with the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth aspects of the invention, the animal is a canine animal. The coconut endosperm fibre may be in any form and preferably as described for the first to fifth aspects of the invention. The coconut endosperm fibre is preferably present at a level of from 0.15 to 5%, on a dry matter basis, in the pet food product, as measured by the Englyst method. All other preferred features are as for the first to fifth aspects of the invention.
The invention is described with reference to the figures, in which
FIG. 1 shows a comparison of faeces scores between two diets containing copra presscake;
FIG. 2 shows a graph of the effect of the inclusion of coconut endosperm fibre in the canine large intestine model on the survival of Campylobacter jejuni; and
FIG. 3 shows mean eicosanoid prostaglandin E2 production by colonic biopsy samples.